Indoor Fun, part 2

If you saw yesterday's post you know how easy the kids made this obstacle look. We decided to get in on the fun.

Daddy's try 

Mommy's try

Both kids and Daddy cross

Indoor Fun

What should you do when it's rainy and you are off for winter break? We went to Pump It Up and discovered this new to us obstacle.

You just jump across from one ball to the next 

Don't they make it look easy and graceful?

(Sweet Son in red and Sweet Daughter in purple, both jumping) 

They tried different techniques and seemed to almost always succeed.

Come back tomorrow to see what happened when Mom and Dad tried.

Wordless Wednesday

Sleeping with a bear

The giant bears we got on Thanksgiving are loved and cuddled with nightly. These are just some examples.

Kid still refuses to sleep on his bed, but this does look warm and cozy.

I always worry they can't breathe, but when I get close their faces aren't covered.

He has his own room, his own bed, and his own bear and still sleeps on her bear on her bed.

Christmas at Home

We prefer a small Christmas celebration with just the immediate family. We spend the day together having fun.

Christmas Eve Daddy went to the store for milk. He came home with an electric crane (and milk). Someone is an impulse shopper!

He got Lego Minecraft and she got a suitcase.

This was the ONLY thing on his wish list. He wanted a typewriter so desperately.

She wanted everything. She loves her Ender Dragon.

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and I hope your day was peaceful and fun.

Christmas with Family

We went to Oklahoma to celebrate with my family. This involves multiple locations and many different groups of people. We went to my mom's church for their cantata, out to eat, visiting homes, and nursing homes.

Papa T and Oma got new bikes and the kids approve.

Part of the family out to lunch after church

It was seriously cold. Not that cold, but it made for some good jokes about things freezing over...

(click on the photo to see it larger)

Cooking

December always means a lot of cooking and the kids are great about joining in.

Rice Krispie Treats

Washing apples

Making apple sauce

Wordless Wednesday

Daddy's Office Fun

First, did you see the cool characters I posted about yesterday? Here are some of the activities the kids did at Daddy's office.

They made hats (money is always the appropriate accessory)

Train rides

Art projects (cards and snowflakes) before traveling to the moon

Daddy's Work Characters

I work for a school, yet Daddy's office is the one with tons of cool kids activities.

Charlie Brown

Alice in Wonderland

Frosty and Rudolph

Dallas Marathon

After my first marathon in New Orleans (Feb 2016) I swore I would NEVER do that again. So, here I am proving no one (including me) should ever tell me I can't do something or I will prove them wrong. This time I had trained more, but this time there were hills so of course I was worried. I also remembered the pain, the blood, and the trauma of the first.

The start line was a bit crowded.

Honestly I can't even see the start line here and I wasn't at the back of the pack

My personal cheering squad!

About to cross the finish line!

It went much better than I expected. I got a new personal record by a good amount. I was still able to move at the end. I never felt like screaming out in pain. I did scream out in frustration when a hill that wasn't on the elevation map appeared in the last few miles. I believe my exact words were, "This is a stupid sport!" I saw the photographer near the finish line and decided to go for a jump. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to land it so I just hoped for a good photo. I LOVE this photo.

My kids also requested I stop running. I was spending too much time training and not enough time with them. Here I am a year later (remember the blog is a year in the past) and I'm still not running. I did find another challenge to keep me busy. I'll tell you more about that later. :)

Dallas Fun

What do you do in Dallas when Mommy is running 26.2 miles? Explore!

Trolley Ride

Christmas Decorations

This is where the typewriter obsession began.

Art Museum Seating

Another trolley ride

Come back tomorrow to find out how the marathon went for Mommy!

Wordless Wednesday

Dallas Vacation

I was planning to run in the Dallas Marathon and thanks to a last minute home emergency, we ended up with a free hotel room near the starting line! Here are the photos from the day before the race.

Awesome decorations

View from our room - the starting line was 2 blocks away in that direction so they could see me when I lined up to start while still staying warm.

Basketball

Sweet Daughter still loves basketball and the season is going much better now that she is playing with, and against, girls her own size!

She has the ball!

She loved running the ball in and passing it to one of our "shooters"

Dental Expander

Sweet Son had a major under bite and no room for his adult teeth to grow in. The dentist suggested an expander which would help and might prevent him from needing braces or might lesson the amount of time needed in braces later. We also had them add a feature to make it impossible to suck his thumb. He only sucked his thumb for a few minutes a day to fall asleep, but we couldn't seem to break the habit.

What it looks like with mouth opened wide

A closer look - the silver tube thing in the middle is what we would adjust every few days

With mouth closed you can't even tell

He can't really figure out how to close his mouth in this picture, haha

Band Concert

Both kids made the homeschool concert band this year. Sweet Daughter is on flute and Sweet Son on trumpet.

Holly Jolly Christmas

Sweet Son is the trumpet player on the far left.

Sweet Daughter is front and center, but you can't see her around the stand. At the very end when the director signals everyone to sit down you can just see her peeking over the stand.

Trumpet Trio

The two boys have been playing trumpet for less than one year while the girl has been playing for 2.5 years. I parent one and teach trumpet to the other two. :) Notice they don't have a director for this piece, they had to count it off, listen, and cut off together.

Wordless Wednesday

Piano Recital

Sweet Son loves piano and plays complex pieces, until recital time. He isn't a fan of recitals and always picks the easiest song possible. So he goes from playing 3 movements of a sonata to barely playing hands together. At least he's still willing to perform though.

Rudolph

End of recital

Voice Recital

It's recital time again! This year Sweet Daughter is singing. She is in a group class so she had a solo as well as a group song.

Whistle a Happy Tune

Ribbons after the recital

The music school offers a program where they earn a trophy after they get 6 ribbons. 

This was Sweet Daughter's turn to get a trophy!

Sleeping

We provide nice comfortable beds for everyone in the family, I promise!

Of course you should use the couch cushions to make a sleeping mat... right next to your BED!

I love how the giant bear has an arm around her

He's sleeping in the bear's armpit, but he's on the bed!